Re: Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Florian Cramer]

On Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 02:17 Jo van der Spek M2M  wrote:

It was the absence of the lumbung artists in the venues that struck me,
>

A footnote to this: This absence was largely caused by the fact that the
documenta organization had only obtained 90 days visitor visa for the
participating non-EU artists while documenta lasts 100 days. As far as I
know, even members of ruangrupa were affected and couldn't stay for the
whole period of the event.

Ruangrupa's initial idea to shorten the running time of documenta fifteen
as a means of working around the visa issue was turned down by documenta's
organization.

It is one of the many examples of how documenta failed to be a good host
for the participating artists. Obviously, documenta is an exhibition event
that was neither used, nor equipped, to host artists who would not just
come for building up installations/art pieces, but stay for the whole event
and run it in the manner of a festival rather than an exhibition.

Collectives like Jatiwangi art Factory (from Indonesia) came to Germany in
two shifts of two groups of people to work around the visa limitation, but
at the closing weekend, only one person was left and supported by a
volunteer group from Kassel's art school and my own school in Rotterdam.

Before that, the group lived with about 15 people - among them little
children - for 3 months in a former factory office building with no shower,
a single toilet and sink, and a small kitchen with 4 electrical platters.
Those conditions wouldn't have been tolerated in any asylum seeker shelter.
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Re: Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Jaromil]

wow it's 2022 and the anti-duits are still out and about... zuper langweilig

dare to watch an interesting network-effect known to any of us who has been 
part of ISM?

watch live how wiki pages about artists and curators involved will be 
vandalized and deleted!

ciao


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Re: Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Inke Arns]

Thanks, Felix, Jo, and Brian, for your observations —

for those who read German (those who don’t can get it machine translated), 
here’s a very interesting article by Joseph Croitoru, historian, who looks into 
the details of the „Tokyo Reels“ — 

"In Kassel, a well-known snowball effect has just started again. This time it 
concerns the project Tokyo Reels by the Palestinian collective Subversive Film. 
As in previous rounds, in the case of the film series the critics had 
apparently not bothered to find out any background information - nor, it seems, 
had the panel of experts convened to deal with the anti-Semitism scandal. (…)

https://www.hna.de/kultur/documenta/pauschale-vorwuerfe-so-nicht-haltbar-91789526.html
 

 

Also, the interview with Tania Bruguera (again, in German) in the art magazine 
Monopol is worth reading:

https://www.monopol-magazin.de/interview-tanja-bruguera-documenta-kuba-instar-antisemitismus-debatte-wir-kuenstler-wurden-nicht-fair-behandelt
 

 

All the best, Inke

www.hmkv.de 




> Am 15.09.2022 um 22:56 schrieb Felix Stalder :
> 
> 
> 
> On 15.09.22 08:56, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:
> 
>> Folks, for those interested in a look at the discussions around documenta 
>> fifteen from outside the lumbung (dare I say, bubble), one
>> way to start is this interview (in German) with the chairwoman of the
>> scientific committee which is the latest focus of attention:
>> https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/documenta-debakel-wie-gehen-wir-mit-diskussionsverweigerung-um-dlf-kultur-ed86198f-100.html
> 
> It seems like this bridge has already been burned, from both sides.
> 
> The curators certainly made mistakes by not understanding the particular 
> German context and the way the anti-semitism charge has been weaponized by 
> the right (Netanyahu's toxic legacy). Still, I understand that they have 
> little interest in having to submit everything to a German board for approval.
> 
> I'm in Kassel at the moment and I happened to see the films that kicked off 
> this latest round of recriminations. I didn't think they needed 
> "contextualization" because the context has been made really clear. They are 
> historical documents from the international solidarity movement, particularly 
> from a solidarity group in Tokyo. They do not represent an impartial 
> historical analysis, but (mostly) voices of people in pain.
> 
> If you read German and want to get an impression of how the weaponization of 
> anti-semitism works, just see how the HWK's very considered, very 
> sophisticated conference "hijacking memory" (June 2022) was attacked. This is 
> not about finding common ground, or better arguments. This is about silencing 
> your opponent no matter how.
> 
> https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/hijacking-memory-wie-eine-konferenz-die-engpaesse-deutscher-debatten-aufzeigt-li.245534
> 
> While this has dominated the media sphere, on the ground, the exhibition is 
> very impressive and truly a break from the template of the "global art show".
> 
> Problems that have kept the art system and theory busy for decades -- the 
> relationship between art and life, or between engaged content and alienated 
> form -- have turned out to be largely irrelevant. And a very different notion 
> of art emerges, doing art, with a small 'a', as a necessity for collective 
> survival, for inventing and constructing a different world, as a way of 
> seeing a world after its breakdown, a way of relating to the history, 
> present, and the future.
> 
> What also struck me is that many of the works, and the overall concept, are 
> very sophisticated, but not in a theoretical way. As far as theory is 
> concerned, I reached the lumbung overdose quite quickly, but then again, this 
> concept is so vague, general, and ubiquitous that it manages to integrate 
> very disparate practices into a common framework centered around open-ended 
> processes and the values of collaboration.
> 
> So there is a strong common thread -- a hands-on way of thinking, a rough 
> workshop aesthetic -- that runs through the entire show, and, for me, it 
> works quite well. The wealth of detail and contexts, of histories that are 
> not familiar to a western art audience (or, at least not to me), is totally 
> overwhelming, but that is the world outside the globalized duty-free zones.
> 
> I couldn't relate to everything and the lack of engagement with technology 
> and industry felt a bit retro, but the focus was clearly the artistic 
> production of local solidarity movements and minority groups.
> 
> Still, a lot of works that are really moving. I cannot speak much to 
> discussions, workshops, and other more engaging formats, as it seems the 
> energy of the show has 

Re: Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Felix Stalder]

On 15.09.22 08:56, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:

Folks, for those interested in a look at the discussions around 
documenta fifteen from outside the lumbung (dare I say, bubble), one

way to start is this interview (in German) with the chairwoman of the
 scientific committee which is the latest focus of attention:

https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/documenta-debakel-wie-gehen-wir-mit-diskussionsverweigerung-um-dlf-kultur-ed86198f-100.html


It seems like this bridge has already been burned, from both sides.

The curators certainly made mistakes by not understanding the particular 
German context and the way the anti-semitism charge has been weaponized 
by the right (Netanyahu's toxic legacy). Still, I understand that they 
have little interest in having to submit everything to a German board 
for approval.


I'm in Kassel at the moment and I happened to see the films that kicked 
off this latest round of recriminations. I didn't think they needed 
"contextualization" because the context has been made really clear. They 
are historical documents from the international solidarity movement, 
particularly from a solidarity group in Tokyo. They do not represent an 
impartial historical analysis, but (mostly) voices of people in pain.


If you read German and want to get an impression of how the 
weaponization of anti-semitism works, just see how the HWK's very 
considered, very sophisticated conference "hijacking memory" (June 2022) 
was attacked. This is not about finding common ground, or better 
arguments. This is about silencing your opponent no matter how.


https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/hijacking-memory-wie-eine-konferenz-die-engpaesse-deutscher-debatten-aufzeigt-li.245534

While this has dominated the media sphere, on the ground, the exhibition 
is very impressive and truly a break from the template of the "global 
art show".


Problems that have kept the art system and theory busy for decades -- 
the relationship between art and life, or between engaged content and 
alienated form -- have turned out to be largely irrelevant. And a very 
different notion of art emerges, doing art, with a small 'a', as a 
necessity for collective survival, for inventing and constructing a 
different world, as a way of seeing a world after its breakdown, a way 
of relating to the history, present, and the future.


What also struck me is that many of the works, and the overall concept, 
are very sophisticated, but not in a theoretical way. As far as theory 
is concerned, I reached the lumbung overdose quite quickly, but then 
again, this concept is so vague, general, and ubiquitous that it manages 
to integrate very disparate practices into a common framework centered 
around open-ended processes and the values of collaboration.


So there is a strong common thread -- a hands-on way of thinking, a 
rough workshop aesthetic -- that runs through the entire show, and, for 
me, it works quite well. The wealth of detail and contexts, of histories 
that are not familiar to a western art audience (or, at least not to 
me), is totally overwhelming, but that is the world outside the 
globalized duty-free zones.


I couldn't relate to everything and the lack of engagement with 
technology and industry felt a bit retro, but the focus was clearly the 
artistic production of local solidarity movements and minority groups.


Still, a lot of works that are really moving. I cannot speak much to 
discussions, workshops, and other more engaging formats, as it seems the 
energy of the show has dissipated. 100 days are long.


Overall, documenta15 is a wholesale repudiation of the modernist notion 
of what art is and what exhibitions can, and should, do.


That this is fraught with internal contradictions (less than I expected, 
though) and creates a backlash is not surprising. That the backlash 
comes in form of the charge of antisemitism, is truly sad and tells a 
lot about contemporary Germany (good and bad things).




all the best. Felix












--
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Re: Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Andreas Broeckmann]

> Subject:  Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel
> From: "Jo van der Spek M2M" 
> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2022 20:13:25 +0200

Folks, for those interested in a look at the discussions around 
documenta fifteen from outside the lumbung (dare I say, bubble), one way 
to start is this interview (in German) with the chairwoman of the 
scientific committee which is the latest focus of attention:


https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/documenta-debakel-wie-gehen-wir-mit-diskussionsverweigerung-um-dlf-kultur-ed86198f-100.html

Regards,
-a
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Dodomenta, Diary from Kassel

[Jo van der Spek M2M]

[corrected version]

 

Dodomenta

A Kassel diary

 

"We come here as equals. We come here in power, and we come here to put
ourselves in the public domain, with nothing to hide or be ashamed of. We
come here as nothing less than equals, who can humbly learn from each other,
who can help each other, who care about each other, because we know that our
interdependency is the only path toward a more just planetary future."

 

 

https://www.e-flux.com/notes/489580/we-are-angry-we-are-sad-we-are-tired-we-
are-united-letter-from-lumbung-community

 

This statement on the 10th of September '22, signed by 100 collective
artists that acted as   lumbung
artists in   Documenta Fifteen, terminated
Documenta Fifteen a week earlier than planned. Lumbung represents an
artistic and economic model focused on sustaining a continued collective
practice rather than producing collectible art objects.

 

I had the privilege to visit this Documenta in what turned out to be the
last weekend of this episode. I have seen and felt the power, the beauty and
the dynamics as I moved around in the environment called Kassel, in "a
constellation of public spheres" (Okwui Enwezor, 2011) . And I felt tension,
a certain suspense, or rather an absence. 

 

We are angry, we are sad, we are tired, we are united: Letter from lumbung
community 

The title of the last lumbung statement in the context of Documenta, was a
response to the final opinion of a would-be scientific board (scientific
advisory panel, appointed by the Supervisory Board of Documenta gGmbH in
August 2022) that took the liberty of judging the moral value of the whole
thing, including the lumbung way of working and organizing. This opinion was
called for in light of the fierce attacks for being anti-semitic,
anti-Israel and therefore propagating the Palestinian strand of
anti-colonialism.

 

It was the absence of the lumbung artists in the venues that struck me,
together with the lack of interaction between and among the visitors. No
doubt the artists were brooding on their manifesto. And we the visitors were
drifting along, in wonders. What I was looking for, having read about the
attacks on the artists and the dumbness of the Documenta directors, was how
the collective reacted to the German concerns which had effectively
dominated the media reports on Documenta. I missed it in the weekend, but
then it came to me on Monday. 

 

"We know what it means to be discriminated against due to color, ethnicity,
religion, gender, sexuality, origin, caste, and/or disability. We understand
the ways that our different anti-colonial struggles intersect. And that
these struggles are faced in everyday life in society at large. We are
committed to art's role in resisting these broader societal injustices. And
in the context of Documenta Fifteen and the specificities of the German
context we see that the targeting of Palestinian artists is the point at
which our anti-colonial struggles meet, and have become a focal point for
attack. Anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-queer, transphobia,
anti-Roma, abelism, casteism, anti-black, xenophobia and other forms of
racism are racisms that the German society must deal with in addition to
anti-Semitism."

 

Rather than letting yourself be stifled by this show of German soul
searching. you strike back by reaffirming your fundamental values and
working principles, thereby denouncing your German hosts for censoring your
art, if not your existence.

This institute, Documenta along with its directors, boards, scientists, and
sponsors has demonstrated no more that their impotence of transcending their
own identity complex, missing the chance to decolonize itself. Germany is
still its history. Memory is still guilt. Kassel is still Auschwitz.

 

Having said that, the substance of Documenta Fifteen is much more than an
exposure of contemporary colonialism or the struggles against it. It is also
more than just taking over a Western institution, be it an old church or
Documenta itself. To me, in essence, the lumbung way has resulted in an
attempt to introduce the mostly white western visitors to other value
systems, other forms of social life and other ways of expression. It offered
visitors a chance to be seduced, convinced and embraced by this gathering of
communities and collectives.  

 

"Documenta Fifteen is not a static, curated exhibition that remains the same
throughout the 100 days. Instead, the venues are constantly changing: they
are places in which to meet, discuss, and learn. Exhibition buildings become
living rooms, and together the artists decide how to use each venue. Through
this process, the rooting of artistic practice in daily life is made
tangible. Documenta Fifteen seeks to test alternative approaches to economy,
collectivity, and